Method for the production of fitted footwear

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a method for the production of fitted footwear, in particular, fitted shoes, by using a pre-prepared sole ( 1 ), a pre-formed strip ( 6 ) and an insert ( 5 ). The construction takes place on the foot of the eventual shoe-wearer, whereby a pre-prepared sole ( 1 ), corresponding to the dimensions of said shoe-wearers foot is searched out. An insert ( 5 ) is applied to the sole ( 1 ) and the precise fit of the sole ( 1 ) and insert checked on the foot. A pre-formed strip ( 6 ) is placed over the foot of the eventual shoe-wearer and fitted to the pre-prepared sole ( 1 ). The invention further relates to footwear prepared according to said method.

This application is the national phase under 35 U.S.C. §371 of PCTInternational Application No. PCT/DE00/04425 which has an Internationalfiling date of Dec. 12, 2000, which designated the United States ofAmerica.

The invention relates to a method for the production of fitted footwear,in particular fitted shoes, by using a prefabricated sole, a preformedupper and an insert.

The invention further relates to footwear produced according to thismethod.

The human foot, by virtue of its composition of 26 bones, 107 ligamentsand 19 muscles, is a highly complex body part. For this reason, Leonardoda Vinci described the foot as a work of art. It is not necessary tohold this opinion to recognise that a shoe bought off the rack cannotalways meet the individual requirements of the shoe wearer, and is alsonot always intended to. This is particularly, but not exclusively, trueof persons who, as a result of foot deformities or other orthopaedicpeculiarities, cannot use shoes off the rack and adapted to the averagefoot. This group is accordingly dependent on the fitting of individualfootwear tailored to their foot. Other groups of people make recourse tofitted footwear not out of orthopaedic considerations but because fittedfootwear can be particularly well adapted to the foot and can increasephysical wellbeing. The term footwear is intended to include, interalia, shoes, boots and other foot covering, but not stockings, socks orthe like.

The procedure known in the prior art for producing fitted footwearconsists firstly in making a measurement on the foot of the subsequentshoe wearer to determine all essential parameters. In the event ofincorrect positioning of the foot, a foot casting or impression is thentaken, according to which an orthopaedic shoe insert is produced. Bymeans of the determined dimensions of the foot, a flat leather blank,known as the upper, is cut to size. Then, corresponding to thedetermined dimensions, a model of the dimensioned foot is to beproduced, an approximately fitting last being used for the sake ofsimplicity or comfort. The leather or the upper is then drawn over thismodel and the sole is bonded thereon, usually by stitching and/oradhesive bonding. So far as necessary, the orthopaedic shoe insert isapplied on the last, otherwise an insert conventional in the prior artis used.

The above-described process is a very complicated and time-consumingprocess of craftmanship, especially when a replicating model of thefoot, i.e. a last is produced. Correspondingly, the production of afitted shoe takes about 4 to 6 weeks. Because of the required effort,the cost of a fitted pair of shoes is comparatively high.

Another disadvantage is that, after stitching together and/or adhesivebonding, no more corrections can be made to the shoe if this provesnecessary, for example during fitting. A model of the foot is of coursenot capable of indicating the subjective wearing comfort of the shoewearer.

On the basis of the disadvantages described above, the invention has setitself the objective of providing a method for producing fitted foowearthat eliminates the disadvantages contained in the state of the art,that is to say in particular reduces the time and the effort for fittedfabrication, so that fitted shoes will be significantly lower in price.At the same time, however, the need for modifications after productionshould be as far as possible avoided, and/or it should be possible formodifications to be made where necessary.

These objects are solved in the gist of the invention in that aprefabricated sole corresponding to the dimensions of the foot of thesubsequent shoe wearer is selected, the accuracy of fit of theprefabricated sole and the insert applied thereto is checked on the footof the subsequent shoe wearer by pushing a preformed upper over the footof the subsequent shoe wearer and joining the preformed upper to theprefabricated sole with an accurate fit. The construction of thefootwear is carried out step by step directly on the foot of thesubsequent shoe wearer, so that, on one hand, it is not necessary tomake a model of the foot, on the other hand, direct feedback about theaccuracy of fit and wearing comfort is obtained. Correspondingly, aprefabricated sole is selected according to the dimensions of the footof the subsequent shoe wearer, and an insert is applied onto the sole.The term “insert” in this context means everything that is disposedbetween the sole and the foot, and comprises part of the footwear. Theaccuracy of fit of the prefabricated sole and of the applied insole ischecked on the foot, for example by the subsequent shoe wearer standingup and giving his opinion about the wearing comfort and the accuracy offit. If appropriate, the prefabricated sole and insert can be exchangeduntil no more objections are raised. Subsequently a preformed upper ispushed over the foot of the subsequent shoe wearer. The upper must ofcourse be chosen such that it fits the sole size and foot size. Thus, aplurality of preformed uppers in various standard sizes corresponding tothe prefabricated soles should be held in readiness. Subsequently thepreformed upper is joined to the prefabricated sole with accurate fit.

The method contains several advantages. On one hand it is not necessaryto prepare a model of the subsequent shoe wearer; measurement of thefoot for this purpose is therefore also superfluous. This already savestime and material. On the other hand, at each step it is possible toconsult the customer about to what extent the measures taken promote thewearing comfort of the resulting footwear. Only when the subsequent shoewearer no longer makes complaints does the joining of the preformedupper and prefabricated sole take place. The need for corrections isalmost entirely ruled out because of the continuous consultation withthe customer. The method thus allows the rapid and direct production ofthe footwear with continuous checking of the construction for accuracyof fit. Changes can be made directly and with little effort.

Other advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject ofsub-claims.

It is advantageous not to carry out the joining of the prefabricatedsole and preformed upper directly on the customer's foot. It istherefore proposed, before joining of the sole and upper, to determine,by means of a measuring device, the height at which the upper should bebonded to the sole with accurate fit. The term measuring device is to beunderstood in very general terms. For example, a linear rule or atemplate may be used, or a size stick for the foot; in the simplestalternative, during build up of the footwear on the customer's foot,marks are applied on the preformed upper and/or on the prefabricatedsole, which indicate at which height on the upper joining must takeplace for an accurate fit. Thereafter, joining may take place by meansof the marks.

The method according to the invention can in particular be applied tothe production of orthopaedic footwear. In this field of application, anorthopaedic insert or appliance must be used as insert, which naturallyshould be adapted to individual needs. The corresponding measures forthis are known to the person skilled in the art. Both active and passiveinserts can be used.

It is advantageous to apply the insert or the orthopaedic insertdetachably to the prefabricated sole. This may be carried out by layingthe insert in an accurately fitting and undisplaceable manner in thesole, or detachably attaching it thereto. The detachable insert can thusbe exchanged during the construction of the shoe by removing it andexchanging it for another insert, which better corresponds to the wishesof the subsequent shoe wearer, and is of course applied detachably.Inserts can thus be tested, in so far as this is permitted by theconstruction of the shoe, that is to say in particular the joining ofthe prefabricated sole to the preformed upper is not yet completed.

It is furthermore preferred that the preformed upper is detachablyjoined to the prefabricated sole. It is in particular proposed to stitchthe upper and sole in a detachable manner. It cannot be ruled out that,despite consultation with the subsequent shoe wearer during theproduction of the footwear, corrections or modifications may still needto be made after completion. Thus, it is for example conceivable thatmodified orthopaedic needs must be taken into account, for example bythe necessity to subsequently raise the orthopaedic insert. In thiscase, the preformed upper and prefabricated sole can be separated, forexample by opening the connecting seam. Then the detachably appliedinsert can be exchanged and the upper and sole reconnected, preferablyin a detachable manner again, e.g. by detachable stitching.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the preformed upper shouldextend essentially vertically in its edge region facing the sole, thatis to say not be inwardly curved in the region of the sole, as isconventional in the state of the art. In this manner, it is readilypossible to adapt the stitching height of the upper to the sole of thecustomer's foot by shifting it vertically until the subsequent shoewearer reports an accurate fit. In the case of an upper that is inwardlycurved at its lower side, vertical adjustment is only possible to arestricted extent, if at all. Correspondingly, the toe puff and counterpuff stiffening the toe and heel regions must be laterally adapted tothe particular stitching height.

In the production of orthopaedic shoes, aesthetic aspects should ofcourse also be taken into account. By virtue of the proposed joiningaround the sole edge of the preformed upper to the prefabricated sole,with very thick soles and inserts it is possible to give the impressionof a very low overall height. The thick sole and/or insert is in thismanner partly optically concealed.

Cases are conceivable in which, for example, with a special widening ofthe foot, an enlargement of the prefabricated sole is necessary. It isthen advantageous to slit open a prefabricated sole, to enlarge it byintroducing a wedge-shaped insert, and then bond the sole and insert toone another. On this widened sole, the footwear can then be built upaccording to the method described above. With this method, it isachieved that largely standard prefabricated soles can be used, whichcan be readily held in readiness. By the described method ofenlargement, the prefabricated soles can be variably adapted to a footform that does not correspond to the average, so that no specialproduction of the sole is necessary, which would involve extra timeconsumption.

A robustly made shoe can be worn for many years. However, the sole wearsdown, so that it may be necessary to exchange this instead of having newfootwear made. To achieve this, the prefabricated sole is separated fromthe preformed upper, the insert is removed from the sole and applied toa new prefabricated sole, and the new sole is joined to the preformedupper, for example by stitching. Of course, the old insert can beexchanged for a new one, if appropriate the new insert can be modifiedwith respect to the exchanged insert to take account of, for example,orthopaedic needs. For reasons of cost, exchange of the sole and/or theinsert is to be preferred over new production. With the proposed method,it is also possible to exchange the preformed upper when this has becomenecessary or, for example, is desired by the shoe wearer, e.g. forreasons of fashion. These subsequent changes are in principle possibleby virtue of the detachable joining of the preformed upper andprefabricated sole and/or insert.

Fitted footwear that is made by the production method according to theinvention is claimed automatically as an independent result of theobject of the invention. Therefore it covers not only orthopaedic shoesproduced according to the method, but also all kinds of shoes, such as,inter alia, leisure and sports shoes, work shoes and normal streetshoes.

Further details, features and advantages of the invention can be takenfrom the following descriptive part, in which exemplary embodiments ofthe invention are explained in greater detail with reference todrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a view from above of a prefabricated sole, an insert and apreformed upper,

FIG. 2 shows a view from below of a preformed upper,

FIG. 3 shows a view from above of a prefabricated sole, and

FIG. 4 shows a view from above of an insert.

FIGS. 1 to 4 show a prefabricated sole designated (1), which isessentially formed as a planar-extending sheet in the shape of anoutline of a foot. On the side underside of the sole (1), which facesdownwards and can therefore not be seen, it has a profile for improvinggrip with the floor, as is known to a person skilled in the art. On thetop side, an essentially vertically upwardly extending thin-walled edge(2) is formed so as to surround the edge. This sole (1) is expedientlyproduced from one piece, and is held in various standard shoe sizes. Thevertically upwardly extending edge (2) on the top side is not inevitablynecessary, but facilitates sewing to the preformed upper (6). Into thesole bed, formed by the surrounding, upwardly extending edge (2) and thesole plate (3), there can be introduced an insert (5), which is producedfrom materials known in the prior art, and is essentially formed as anegative of the foot sole of the subsequent wearer. For lateral footstabilization, the insert extends on the topside increasingly verticallyupwardly towards the edge, so that the foot sole, especially at the heeland inner and outer longitudinal arch, is held firmly from below andfrom the side. The exterior dimensions are chosen such that the insert(5) is inserted with accurate fit into the sole bed of the prefabricatedsole (1). The preformed upper (6) has at the top an essentially ovalinsertion opening (7) for the foot; on the top side, the tongue (8) andlace elements (9) can also be seen; in the exemplary embodiment shownhere, hook-and-loop fastenings (9) are provided. The tongue (8) can alsobe provided with a tongue padding between the outer leather and lining.The form of the upper (6) corresponds to embodiments known in the priorart, with the exception of the fact that the preformed upper (6), on theside facing the sole (1) extends essentially vertically, as shown inFIG. 2, which shows a view from below of a preformed upper (6). It isthus, in particular, not inwardly curved as is known from the prior art.Uppers (6) in various sizes fitting the prefabricated soles (1) arealso, like the prefabricated soles (1) and typical inserts (5), held instock in various standard sizes.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for producing fitted shoes, the methodcomprising: selecting a sole that corresponds to dimensions of a foot ofa user; providing an insert that has a lower surface and a footreceiving area, the lower surface of the insert being positioned on anupper surface of the sole; placing the foot of the user onto the footreceiving area of the insert; determining whether the dimensions of thefoot of the user correspond with dimensions of the insert and sole;placing a pre-formed upper over the foot of the user after thedetermination has been made that the dimensions of the foot of the usercorrespond with the dimensions of the insert and sole, the pre-formedupper having a portion thereof extending perpendicular to a plane formedby the foot receiving area and by an aperture provided in the pre-formedupper; measuring a height of the pre-formed upper to correspond with aheight of the foot of the user and determining a position of securingthe pre-formed upper to the sole; and stitching the pre-formed upperwith a circumferential edge of the sole on the basis of the position ofsecuring determined by measuring the height of the pre-formed upper tocorrespond with the height of the foot of the user to thereby join thepre-formed upper with the sole.
 2. The method according to claim 1,wherein the insert is detachably applied to the prefabricated sole. 3.The method according to claim 1, wherein the insert is an orthopedicinsert or appliance that is detachably applied to the sole.
 4. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the joining to the upper is carriedout such that a lower edge region facing the sole extends essentiallyvertically.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the pre-formedupper is joined to the sole so as to surround the circumferential edgeof the sole.
 6. Fitted footwear, comprising: a prefabricated sole; apre-formed upper; and an insert, wherein the footwear is producedaccording to claim 1.